WATCH: Is President Cyril Ramaphosa disconnected from mining reality?

Writing in his weekly letter, President Cyril Ramaphosa pointed out that mining contributes more than half of our goods exports, about 10% of GDP and 5% of employment. It is a pillar of our capital goods industry. It is not a coincidence that when global metals prices peak, our economy and job creation also surge, he wrote.

The sad reality, though, is that as this commodity cycle has surged ahead, our jobs numbers have gone into reverse gear. And some leaders of mining companies, and investors who place capital at risk in these projects, bemoan the continued difficult operating environment.

Michael Avery talks to Peter Attard Montalto, head of capital markets research at Intellidex; Paul Miller, director of mining supply sales consultancy AmaranthCX; and Matthew Parks, deputy parliamentary co-ordinator for Cosatu, about the operating difficulties faced by mining companies